The Last Kiss
by xOneTreeHillIsLovex
Summary: Lucas Scott lived the good life. He had great friends, a beautiful girlfriend, a well paid job. But everything had sort of become predictable, no more surprises. We all make choices. What's yours? BrucasLeyton.
1. Crisis

The Last Kiss 

**Ch1:** Crisis

**Tag Line:** We all make choices. What's yours?

**Summary:** This is based slightly on the movie The Last Kiss. Lucas Scott lived the good life. He had a great girlfriend who was carrying his child. He had amazing friends that he had had since grade school. And his job, well, it was ok. Working as an architect was never all that fun anyway. He had everything he'd thought he wanted when he was younger, but why does he find himself ordinary? Why is everything suddenly boring and predictable? He was 29 years old and turning 30 in less then two months. And of course, his mid life crisis has only just begun.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own One Tree Hill or The Last Kiss. Although I DO own Zach Braff, he's currently in my bed… Kidding.

**A/N:** My other story is on hiatus because I've currently been grounded to an unbearable degree and the only reason I'm on right now is because I'm at my mom's house and she's the greatest. At my dad's, I'm living the lifestyle of a nun and I'm not sure for how long. Please I BEG YOU, read and review! It'll get me through this horrid groundation. I don't even think that's a word. /

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**Prologue:** _When I was 12 I closed my eyes and pictured what it'd be like to be thirty, and this is exactly what I saw. Great friends, beautiful girlfriend, I should also mention that in that same fantasy Hulk Hogan was my live in body guard. My girlfriend and I met three years ago. She's smart, she's beautiful, she makes me laugh. And if you absolutely have to become an adult and all that comes with it, this is the kind of woman you wanna do it with… Right?_

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_BING. BING. BING. BING. BING._

Suicide seemed like the best possible choice when every single day of your life starts off like this. The 'bings' of an alarm clock ringing at 8:00 in the morning could send just about anyone over the edge. It was like a routine now. Everything was sort of expected. Wake up, shower, get dressed, go to work, blah blah blah.

Groaning, Lucas Scott slammed his hand down on his alarm clock, hopefully hitting the 'snooze' button, but there were so many damn buttons on that thing…you'd never know which one you could end up hitting. Rolling over onto his side for an extra 15 minutes of sleep, he found himself inhaling the beautiful, intoxicating smell of his girlfriend, who was lying next to him as usual. She smelled of fresh lavender. Lucas liked to believe that it was her natural scent, that she was born smelling of purple lavender flowers- but of course, it was just her shampoo.

"Mmm... Hey honey…"

He smiled into her hair as her soothing voice floated into the quietness of the morning. She turned around slowly and sat up, her honey eyes still laced with sleep as she sent him a tired smile. He smiled back, leaning up and planting a loving kiss on her tender lips, not caring about either of their morning breath.

"Hey babe"

He replied as he then leaned in to gently nuzzle her neck. He breathed in heavily, taking in all the lavender his nostrils could take before he had to get up and shower. She giggled as he did this and then pulled away, looking into the ice blue eyes of her boyfriend of nearly three years.

"I got to go shower"

He said with a frown as she gave him a big blubbery lip, which caused them both to laugh. They were always like this in the morning. All lovey dovey, the kind of lovey dovey that would cause most people to gag in disgust. But they didn't care of course. That's just the type of couple they were.

Getting up out of bed despite the protests of his loving girlfriend, he grabbed a towel off the shelf and began to make his way over to the bathroom for a nice, hot morning shower. Another step in the daily morning routine.

"I love you Luke"

He smiled to himself as the upper part of his body turned slightly to look into the eyes of the girl that he had fallen in love with so long ago.

"Love you too, Peyt"

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"Morning Mr. Scott"

The usual weekday greetings were tossed about as he made his way over to his office, which was linked to several others. He gave his co-workers nods of acknowledgement seeing as it was way too early for him to actually sputter words from his mouth. It was just a task he was hardly in the mood for. He was never in the mood for much lately, anyway.

Sitting at his desk he looked up at the clock which read 9:15 and smirked. _Another boring day at the office. _He thought to himself as he turned on his computer and waited patiently for it to start up. His forehead soon became introduced to the cold, hard wood of his desk as his eyelids drooped shut. Going to bed at 2 in the morning will do this to you.

He let his mind wander to the current events that were going on in his life at the moment and sighed out loud.

Flashback 

Lucas had just came home from another long, painful day of work. He had to work an extra shift tonight seeing as he had taken several days off the week before on a cause of sickness. He took his jacket off and flung it carelessly on the couch before slipping out of his shoes.

"_How was work?"_

_He was slightly startled by the voice and looked over at the digital clock on the TV which read 1:37 in the morning. He looked up to find his girlfriend Peyton, dressing in a tank top and PJ pants with a mint green robe around her for warmth. He smiled at her and she returned it almost immediately._

"_It was work"_

_He said with a shrug as they made their way towards each other, embracing one another in a big, bear hug._

"_That bad huh?"_

"_Worse"_

_They both shared a laugh as Peyton took his hand and laced her fingers with his own. He looked into her eyes that were big and full of unsure ness. He could only imagine what his reaction was like now, probably confused, actually- he was probably doing that little squint thing he always does._

"_Everything ok?"_

_He asked, his voice full of concern as she sat down on the couch and motioned for him to do the same, which he of course did._

"_Listen…Lucas, we've been together for a little more then 3 years now…"_

_She began as a confused Lucas droned in and out of what was going on._

"_And I love you and I know you love me…and well, together, we can conquer anything"_

_She continued as he nodded along, looking into her eyes as if he were looking into her soul._

"_And, well, I saw the doctor today and…I'm pregnant"_

_As she spoke those words a small laugh came out of her mouth and her eyes brimmed with fresh tears. Not tears of sadness, tears of joy. Joy for the fact that they had created something so beautiful and in nine months, were going to welcome it into the world together, as a family._

_Lucas was at a loss for words, to say the least. He had no idea what to say or do, so when he felt her tiny arms wrap around his built frame, he automatically hugged her back, getting tangled in her mop of blonde curls. It was as if his whole life had actually stopped right there. Like his innocence was lost and the days of living his life to the fullest were over. But he couldn't tell her that of course, he had no choice but to be happy. He had to be. It wasn't an option._

End Flashback 

His groaned aloud again as he brought his head back up and brought his hand to his head, feeling the indent that the desk had left. He looked back up at the clock hopefully, which now read '9:20'.

"You've got to be shitting me…"

He murmured to no one in particular, not wanting to believe that only nine minutes had passed. He looked at the screen saver on his computer, which was a beautiful mountain with Peyton at the very top, arms up in the air and a smile evident on her face. He had taken that picture the year before when they went on their trip to Bermuda. It was the most fun he had had in a long time.

Hearing a knock on the door, he shook his head of his memories and cleared his throat, ready to actually speak now.

"Come in"

He called, causing the door to automatically open and a very stressed Jake Jagielsky to enter.

"You look like shit"

Lucas commented as a smirk came to his lips. In return, Jake sent him a dirty look and sat down on one of the empty chairs in front of Lucas's desk, arms on knees and head in hands.

"Rachel has been driving me insane, man. I mean, everything used to be great between us. We were happy and- and… I don't know what to do Lucas…"

Jake began, going into some sort of panic attack that caused Lucas to get up from his desk and walk over to him, putting a caring hand on his back as he took the empty seat next to him.

"What's going on man? I thought things were going good with you guys…"

Jake and Lucas had been friends since longer then he could remember. Lucas knew Rachel as well, they were forced to be friends in high school seeing as she and Jake were together for 2 years of it, and still were now. Which was highly impressive seeing as they were both 29 now. Jake and Rachel had been together for 13 years and had been married for 4 of them.

"Yeah I mean…we've been on the rocks for the past couple years and I really thought that having Jenny would somehow bring us closer together some how but it's only been causing us to drift more and more apart"

Lucas bit his lip lightly as his thoughts drifted to Jenny. She was a beautiful, angelic little girl. But that only lasted for so long. With all the dirty diapers, drooling, crying, peeing- the cuteness fades fast.

"I'm sorry Jake, I really am. Let me know if there's anything I can ever do for you, alright?"

He said, comforting his friend of many, many years, who in return nodded and looked up at him with respect and gratitude on his features.

"Thanks Lucas. You're a really great friend, I'm sorry to bring my problems on you I just…well, you know"

Lucas nodded and laughed a little as the two men stood up and exchanged a manly hug.

"Don't worry about it"

Jake nodded as he brought a hand to the back on his neck and left it there for a short while, something most men did when there was simply nothing else _to_ do.

"Anyway…you must be excited about the baby huh?"

Jake began, changing the subject in a nonchalant manner to Lucas and the tiny, little fetus growing inside his girlfriend's belly.

"Uh yeah…I mean she just found out three weeks ago so we still have a long way to go until it's an actually…" He made some sort of weird hand gestures as he tried to find the right word. "..baby" He finally decided on, getting a weird, but understanding nod from Jake.

"Yeah well, you and Peyton are great together. I'm sure you'll make wonderful parents. I'll see you after work man"

And with that, he turned and left, letting the door click gently behind him- leaving an overwhelmed Lucas to think about his unborn child.

"Yeah…just _wonderful_"

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"Oh man oh man GO GO GO!"

Lucas groaned inwardly at the eagerness of his friend Tim, who sat beside him on the couch, cheering the Patriots on with extreme passion. Tim Smith was born in Boston, raised in Boston, and worshiped every sport's team that _belonged_ to Boston. Which was highly overwhelming at times.

"Tim, seriously calm down. I swear you get a boner every time you watch ESPN"

Nathan Lee came out of his room in nothing but low rise PJ pants, showing off his toned torso and abs. This was another part of Lucas' routine. Every now and then the boys would meet up at Nathan's house to just hang out and be guys again. It made him feel younger- and not as if he were turning 30 in less then two months. He shuddered inwardly at the horrid thought.

Shortly after Nathan came out of his room, an extremely sexy blonde made her way out as well and Lucas did his best to avert his eyes from her bare chest as she slipped her dress on over her head.

"I had fun Hally"

Nathan said, a grin forming on his lips as he playfully smacked her ass.

"It's Janine"

Came the haughty reply of the girl as she shoved her way passed him, grabbing her purse and making a harsh exit. Nathan rolled his eyes and gave the guys an innocent look as he too, took a seat on the couch to watch the game.

In a way, Lucas felt sorry for Nathan. He was always living in fear of commitment; it was as if he could never be tied down. It was just impossible for Nathan Lee to be with one girl, and one girl only. He had a different girl every night, each one hotter then the next. He was still stuck in the young zone. He was a teenage boy in a grown man's body.

Although Lucas felt sorry for Nathan, he was also highly envious of his freedom. He could hook up with anyone he wanted to. He had choices. He had a variety. And Lucas, well, he just had Peyton. But that didn't matter because Peyton was and always would be amazing. She was the perfect girl. She got along with his friends and his family absolutely adored her. Everything was how it was supposed to be.

_Exactly_, how it was supposed to be.

The thought, which should've been a happy one, made Lucas frown. But his thoughts were slowly drowned from his mind by a very loud, obnoxious, Tim.

"YEEEEEEAHHHYAAAA BOIIIIIII!"

Lucas's eyes went wide with disgust as Tim got up and began air humping the invisibility and quoting Flava Flave. This caused Jake to toss the football he had been holding at Tim, hitting him square in the stomach. The guys all laughed at this as Nathan lit up the joint he had been saving.

Once he was done taking his hit, he passed it over to Lucas, who took a long drag, letting the smoke take over his lungs. He closed his eyes and passed it on to Jake, but left the smoke to linger in his throat for a little while longer before letting it all out.

He glanced over at the clock on the TV and groaned. It was already 2:17 in the morning and they all had a wedding to attend in the morning. And he wouldn't be a very happy camper if he went to the wedding in a grumpy mood on a cause of not enough sleep.

"Alright guys I'm gonna head home. I'll see you guys at the wedding"

He said as he took one last drag and got up, grabbing his jacket and slipping it on.

"Alright later deush"

Lucas rolled his eyes at Nathan's farewell and then left without another word.

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"Aw Sarah you look amazing!"

Lucas watched as his girlfriend embraced the woman on the day whose eyes were full of happy tears. The wedding ceremony was finally over, thank God. Lucas wasn't exactly the 'wedding' type of guy- he had his reasons.

The after party had begun and the day was absolutely beautiful. There were delicious looking buffets all around and flowers blooming everywhere you turned. A perfect day for a wedding.

Lucas, Nathan, Jake, and Tim were all hanging out in their own little circle, as usual. It seemed as if the other three were engaging in some sort of conversation that didn't quite interest Lucas, causing him to let his eyes drift around to see who had attended. That's when he spotted her, well, more like she spotted him. It was pretty obvious that she had been looking at him for quiet some time now.

His eyes caught hers and lingered for a little more then a moment. She was slightly far away from him but from what he could tell, she was quite the looker. All he could tell from the distance though, was that she had dark, long brown hair that was worn in loose curls today, and a tight red dress that had black lace trimming and was strapless. She was a vision, but only caught his eye for so long.

His eyes then landed on a much-needed setting, the outdoor bar. Excusing himself from his friends, he made his way over to it and looked at the selections before him.

"What're you drinking?"

He felt a presence by his side and turned slightly as his eyes made out the familiar petite figure whom he had caught eyes with moments earlier and couldn't help but notice, that she was way more beautiful up close. She had big, hazel eyes with flecks of gold and green in them. But the most adorable thing that he noticed were her dimples when she smiled at him. They almost melted his heart right then and there.

"Depends on how drunk I want to be"

He replied with a charming smile as they both laughed. He then looked to the bartended and nodded his head ever so slightly.

"I'll have a beer"

He said as the man nodded and turned his back to grab a bottle out of the cooler.

"Yeah me too"

Chirped the girl who once again, caught Lucas's eye and smiled at him, exposing those damn sinful dimples once more.

"Thanks"

"Have we met before?" He asked her, comfortable with her outgoingness.

"Do I look familiar?" She said arching an eyebrow as a goofy grin came to her lips.

He laughed in response and shook his head.

"No"

"I'm Brooke" She said as she brought her eyes back up to meet his with another small, dimpled smile.

_Brooke._

The name repeated itself inside Lucas' head. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.

"Lucas"

He gave her a sincere smile as he held out his hand for her to shake, which she did while letting out an extremely cute giggle.

"So are you a friend of the bride or the groom?"

Lucas looked over at the happy couple at the mention of them and smiled to himself as the two of them began to walk through the area which was full of well-dressed people.

"The groom, practically since kindergarten"

"Impressive"

He laughed and nodded along.

"Yeah it is"

The mystery girl laughed lightly and looked down at her freshly French pedicured feet which were clad in black, peep toe Steve Madden heels.

"So what about you? Friend to the bride or groom?" He asked with semi-curiosity.

"Eh, family thing, but we know the bride. I'm here with some of my friends…" She began as a small, jingle sound took over their conversation. Brooke pulled out her cell phone from her black clutch and looked at the screen before looking back up to him.

"These are them actually. We've been wanting to ditch this thing ever since it started" She laughed which made him smile. She flipped her phone open and spoke to the person on the other end.

"Yeah, alright I'll be right there" And with that, she hung up and looked back up to Lucas. "Uhm, I'll be right back" She said and turned to walk away but not before turning back around to look at him, giving him a somewhat vulnerable look. "Just…wait here, ok?" She said to a surprised Lucas before turning around and taking off.

Lucas just stood there, amazed at what was happening. He looked up at the balcony of the bride and groom's house and saw Peyton standing there in her emerald green dress, looking stunning as she usually did. Only she wasn't alone, she was holding a baby in her slender, pale arms. Probably one of her friends'. She caught Lucas' eye and smiled at him, and he returned it mechanically.

He shoved his hands awkwardly in his pockets as he made his way over to the buffet, letting his eyes wander to where Jake was, who was holding a crying Jenny and dancing with her.

"Jake what the hell do you think you're doing?" Came the shrill voice of Jake's wife Rachel, anger evident on her face as she began to take Jenny away from him.

"I'm dancing with her! Jesus Christ Rachel she's having a fun time!"

"She's crying you idiot! God how stupid are you?"

"Maybe she's crying because she saw you coming" He replied with an angry look on his face as she gave him a look of disgust.

"Oh, real nice Jake" She said, turning on heel as she smelled Jenny's diaper, which was, as she expected, dirty.

Jake kicked the wooden fence roughly, angry about the situation that had just taken place.

"God damn it!" He cursed himself and brought a hand to his head.

Lucas frowned as he walked over to a deserted area of the wedding, wanting desperately to be alone. He found himself sitting in what looked like an old tree house with his legs dangling over it, looking out at the still lake with a look on his face showing that he was deep in thought.

"It's beautiful isn't it?"

He smiled at the familiar voice and nodded.

"Yeah it is"

He turned his face to see Brooke's tiny body making it's way up the ladder and onto the base of the tree house. She plopped down next to him and smiled as they stared into each other's eyes for far too long then necessary. This made Lucas avert his eyes from hers and stare out into the ocean.

"Don't you just love weddings?" She asked as she too, looked out at the lake.

"Nope. I honestly don't see the point" He replied, laughing at the goofy look of disbelief on Brooke's face. "I mean…why should their be an event for people to prove their love to each other? It's all just blown way out of proportion"

"Alright now tell me what you _really_ think"

He laughed and shook his head in a goofy way before staring back out at the lake.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" She asked abruptly, catching Lucas off guard.

After several moments of silence he nodded and smiled slightly.

"Yeah" He said with a small laugh, which Brooke joined in.

"Hm, a little hesitation there…Having a crisis are we?" She asked in a somewhat knowing tone.

"Do I look like I'm having a crisis?" He asked with a half smile, taken aback by the girl at his side who spoke so independently.

"Everyone I _know_ is having a crisis, they come and go" She said matter-of-factly as her eyes once again began drifted to the lake.

"Sometimes…sometimes I don't really feel like they're going anywhere" He admitted sadly as he looked her in the eyes.

"You're having a _permanent_ crisis?" She asked with playfulness to her tone.

Lucas laughed at this and glanced around nonchalantly.

"I don't know, maybe."

He shrugged slightly as he gave her a sideways glance.

"I've just been thinking about my life lately and everything feels pretty planned out, you know? It's like I know everything that's gonna happen. There are no more surprises" He said with a frown, speaking what was on his mind for a long time now.

"That is so boring" Came the blunt reply of Brooke who had a bored, pitied look on her face that caused Lucas to laugh at her honesty.

"I know" He said in agreement as he shook his head slightly as they both shared a laugh.

"It's weird…" She began, catching Lucas's attention once more. "I mean the world is moving so fast now, that we start freaking out way before our parents did, cause we don't ever stop to breathe anymore" She said, deep in thought as her eyes scanned over the lake before meeting his again.

He stared intently at the vision of beauty in front of him, so taken aback by her forwardness and insight.

"Anyway…" He began with a small smile as he caught her eyes once more. "What do you do?" He asked with interest.

"I go to Boston College…I'm hoping to be an actress. I've been in several productions and so far it's been really great. It's something I hope to do as a career" She said truthfully, smiling at the thought of it all.

Lucas nodded and smiled at her, wishing he were that young again. It seemed just yesterday that he was in college, having the time of his life with all of his friends.

"That's nice. So are you in your last year of college…?" He began to ask her as she slowly shook her head and held up two fingers, indicating that she was only in her second year.

"Oh so you're 20?"

She nodded and rested her hands on her lap lightly.

"Yup…two more years to go" She said with a small chuckle.

"Yeah well college was the best years of my life…I'm 29 now and I still wish I could go back and relieve it…"

She smiled as Lucas stood up and held a hand for her to help her up which she gladly accepted.

"Thanks"

"No problem. Listen I gotta run…it looks like it's clearing out so…it was nice meeting you Brooke" He said sincerely as he looked down at her with a sweet smile on his lips which she gladly returned.

"You too"

He nodded and turned around but before he was fully turned, she spoke again.

"So uhm, do you like, want my number or something?" She asked hopefully, hints of nervousness laced in her sweet voice.

"Uh, yeah sure" He said turning back around to face her.

"Uhm…do you have a pen?" She asked with a laugh which caused him to open up his jacket, revealing no pen in sight, making him laugh as well.

"Oh alright well…I have classes at BC on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1-5 so just stop by that little café right outside the main building anytime around 5…I hang out there" She explained with a smile, causing him to nod.

"Yeah, definitely"

"So uh, I'll see you around" She said with a nervous laugh before taking off, disappearing down the ladder of the tree house.

Lucas stood there for several minutes longer, allowing his mind to process everything that had just happened with this beautiful girl whom he had just met. She was the first unpredictable thing that happened in his life for a long time. He needed that. He really, really needed that.

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"Hey babe. So I never got to talk to you much after the wedding. Where'd you run off to?"

Lucas looked across the dinner table and looked into the honey colored eyes of Peyton, whose eyes were not suspicious or accusing. Simply curious. He almost felt bad.

"I was there. I was with Jake mostly. He and Rachel had another fight" He explained as Peyton nodded understandingly.

"That's terrible. I mean, they were always so happy together…" She said sadly as she scooped some corn into her mouth from their take home dinner from Boston Market.

"Yeah…" Lucas agreed as he began to cut up his chicken.

He had a guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach that he tried desperately to ignore but soon came to terms with the fact that it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He lied to his girlfriend. He didn't even have a reason to lie. It wasn't like anything happened with this Brooke girl, and it wasn't like anything _was_ going to happen.

Right?


	2. Losing My Mind

The Last Kiss

**Ch2:** Losing My Mind

**A/N:** You guys, I really mean it- your reviews get me through the day! You guys rock! PLEASE keep reviewing, it means the world to me! Much love from your jailed friend. Being grounded really bites…By the way already have chapter three written and I'll probably post it later on in the week! **_- Katharine_**

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"Leaving Lucas?"

"Yeah I got the short shift today man"

"Lucky cock sucker"

"That would be me" He replied with a laugh as Jake shook his head and walked back over to his desk to engage in some more architectural work. Lucas walked out of the building, more than grateful that the day had been so short. He stepped into his Hybrid car, which was slightly geeky- but cool looking none the less. While placing the keys in ignition, he looked at the clock that had suddenly lit up with the neon green numbers, '4:44'.

For some reason Brooke's pretty face popped into his head which he let rest on the back of his seat. Those dimples, that body…that face.

He and Brooke were just friends. Not even friends, merely acquaintances. She wanted to hang out and she had class on Thursday so she'd be at the café around five.

He turned on the engine and began to make his way down to the Boston College campus to hopefully find her. As he drove, his mind began to wander back to the events from the previous night.

Flashback 

_Lucas's long, lean body was strewn out on his and Peyton's very comfy couch as he mindlessly flipped through the channels on his television. It was Wednesday night and he had gotten off work early and, thank God, was only working a short shift the next day then was off till Monday. He groaned in annoyance as he flipped through the channels, not seeing anything that even remotely interested him._

_His ears perked up as he heard a door open and looked up to see Peyton leaning against the door frame with a smile on her face before making her way over to him and sitting down at the end of the couch, allowing his feet to rest on her lap. _

"_Hey beautiful" _

_She smiled as he said this and his eyes were drawn to the magazine that she was holding in her hands. He quirked a curious eyebrow at it, wondering what it was as she began to look through it with interest._

"_It's Glamour" _

_He nodded, recognizing the name to be some sort of woman's magazine. Not that he read woman's magazines or anything- he's just seen several women at his office with them._

"_Talking about things with your partner is a way of exercising fears on both sides, or at least not allowing them to become over-whelming…" She began, reading from an article from the magazine. "Do you get that?" She asked, gaining his full attention while tapping him on the leg._

"_Uh huh it says you can't hold everything inside" He said, his eyes still fixated on the television screen._

"_Yeah…so what about you?"_

"_What?" He asked, un-interest laced in his voice._

"_What're you holding inside that you feel like you wanna let out?" She asked, hoping to maybe get through to him this time._

_His head finally turned to face her as a smile slowly came to his lips. All was silent until the quiet sound of what would be known as a 'fart' drifted into the air- causing him to grin even more. She gave him a look of disbelief as she struggled to get out from underneath him._

"_What? WHAT? You asked! I've been holding that in all day!" He said with mock defensiveness._

_She wanted to hit him, to curse him, but of course, she just found herself laughing and muttering things like calling him 'disgusting'- making him laugh more._

"_Luuuuucas I don't want your farts on me come on… Turn the TV off I'm serious" She whined as she finally stood up while giving him a look of disproval and shutting off the TV. "I wanna know what you're feeling"_

"_I'm feeling that…" He began in a goofy tone. "What I'm feeling… **ME**" He motioned, bringing a hand to his chest in mock therapeutic mode. "…is that, in general…"_

"_Wow, you are an enormous loser, you know that?" Came the reply of Peyton as she did her best to hide the smile that was forming on her lips, but failed miserably. _

"_Yeah well you're in love with a loser and only a loser could love a loser" He said as if he were a little boy in an argument over which power ranger was better._

"_Are you nine?" Peyton asked teasingly._

"_Ten"_

_She stuck her tongue out at him and he suppressed a laugh._

"_Ok fine, I'll go…" Peyton began, giving up hope on him. "I feel like we should buy a house"_

Those words sent Lucas in frenzy as the smile that had been on his face before began to falter. He knew that was coming. That was the next step in the relationship. Buying a house was supposed to happen. It'd be perfect. It'd be him, the baby, and Peyton. One, big, predictably happy family.

End Flashback 

He parallel parked on the street, something he had always been horrible at, and got out of the car, finding the café almost immediately. It was 5:03. Practically right on time. He sort of just hung out around the out door tables where groups of college students sat and chatted away with one another. To say he felt like somewhat of a creep standing there with a bunch of younger kids would be an understatement. But soon, all those thoughts of uncomfortable ness faded away as he saw her come out of what looked like a main school building.

She was with her friends, laughing and having a genuinely good time. She was wearing a pair of tight fitting jeans and a silk white and green colored cami. Her long brown locks were down and bouncy with a white headband to hold it all in place with a 60s sort of vibe. On her feet were plain, white flips flops and Lucas's eyes scanned her over once more, loving the sliver of skin that peeked through between the cami and the dark brown leather belt.

"Hey isn't that that guy from the wedding…?"

He heard one of the friends she was with mutter this and she looked up, finally catching his eye as a large smile came to her face. She quietly excused herself from her friends and made her way over to him.

"Hey you"

She greeted him with a smile, causing his insides to do all sorts of strange, foreign flip-flops.

"Hey you"

He said in a somewhat different tone, still mocking her though.

"I'm glad you came…I was beginning to think you wouldn't show" She said with a tiny smile as he shrugged.

"Aw, I could never" They both shared a laugh as he nodded over to his car. "Come on I'll give you a ride home"

"I live really close by it's fine I can walk" She said truthfully, squinting her eyes as she looked at him. The sun was at its highest capacity that day.

"Aw so what. Come on I'll drive ya anyway" He said with a playful grin.

"But seriously I live like, really close by" She laughed and he shrugged carelessly before she rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Alright let's go" They laughed while making their way over to his car.

Being the gentleman he was, he opened the door for her at the passenger seat before making his way over to the driver's seat and buckling in.

"Thanks for this…" She began as her eyes roamed the busy streets. "So what'd you do after I left the wedding?" She asked, striking up a random conversation.

He made sure his eyes stayed focus on the road as he gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Uh you know, just hung out with my friends and stuff"

"Fun…remind me again why you don't like weddings again?" She asked with a teasing tone as he let out a sound that was somewhere between a scoff and a laugh.

"Gah, they just make me pretty depressed…"

"Why?" She asked in disbelief, laughter on her voice.

"I don't know they just always seemed so forced to me, you know? I mean if you love somebody why do you need a photo album full of drunk people in tuxedos to prove it…?" He said, eyes still focused on the road.

"Wow...how do you _really_ feel?" She laughed as she recalled their previous conversation, making him laugh as well.

"Ha ha" He said dryly while rolling his eyes.

"Did you know that when the institution of a marriage was created people only lived to be 30 years old…" She said in her matter-of-fact voice, making Lucas' thoughts linger on what she said.

"I'd be dieing next year" He said, looking at her with a smirk.

"Oh I would wear the _hottest_ dress to your funeral" She said with a goofy grin as they both began to laugh while images of Brooke in an extremely hot little black dress paraded through Lucas' mind. "Alright it's right here…this building"

She pointed to a large apartment building as he began to pull in to parallel park once more; luckily there weren't many other cars around like before.

"Wow…that uh…_was_ pretty short" He said with a nod to fill the silence.

"Yeah…" She said with an awkward nod. "So there's a party tomorrow night…would you wanna go with me?" She asked, as his mouth gaped around for words, not sure how to respond.

He silently weighed out his options in his head before nodding a little.

"Yeah that'd be…cool"

"Great" She said with a smile as she reached into the big beige tote she was carrying and pulled out a notebook and a purple Jelly pen.

"Nice pen" He commented with a teasing grin.

"I like purple!" She said defensively through a laugh as she scribbled her number onto an empty page and ripped it off, handing it to him.

"Here. Call me tomorrow and I'll tell you the details" She gave him another shy smile before leaning in and giving him a lingering kiss on the cheek, sending an electric shock through his body.

"Oh and Lucas, don't you _dare_ stand me up" She said with a smile, indicating that although she was serious, she had a playful vibe to her tone.

Lucas watched as her perfect little figure made it's way to her apartment building and he silently cursed himself for what had just happened. This girl was dangerous for him. He had a pregnant girlfriend for Christ's sake!

"What have I gotten myself into?" He asked no one in particular as he pulled out and drove off to his predictably predictable life.

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

Friday morning came quickly and Lucas Scott awoke at approximately 1:13 in the afternoon and was suffering an incredibly horrible hang over. He and the guys were out the night before at the local bar, just hanging out and playing some pool- drinking way too many beers to actually count.

Another night of just him and the guys.

He groaned aloud as he realized that he was lying down in the middle of his living room floor for reasons in which he did _not_ want to know. His eyes rested on Peyton who was leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen with what looked like a cup of coffee in her hand- it was a funny sight seeing as she was upside down from his point of view.

"There's some Advil and a glass of ice water on the coffee table" She said with a smirk as she turned to walk back into the kitchen but stopped, wanting to say one more thing. "And by the way you should take a shower. You stink"

Lucas rolled his eyes and sat up, his head feeling as if it were ten times bigger then his body as he drowned both the Advil's. Looking around to make sure Peyton was nowhere in sight, he looked down his tee shirt and took a large whiff while his face squinched up with disgust. He really _did_ stink.

He stood up groggily as he made his way over to the bathroom, grabbing a towel on his way there, looking less then forward to his morning- or in this case afternoon, shower.

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

Fully refreshed and dressed in dark, loose jeans and a navy tee shirt, he made his way into the kitchen. He had spent the majority of his time from earlier lounging around and watching TV like the lazy boy he is.

"So what're you up to today?" Peyton asked as she greeted him with a loving smooch.

"Uhm…not sure yet" He replied although he was entirely sure what he was up to.

It was Friday and tonight was his big party date with Brooke, something he had been looking forward to since she brought it up the day before.

"Oh…" She said with a small smile as she poured him some coffee.

"Thanks babe. Actually I think I'm gonna head on over to the office to give Jake a visit. He gets out early tonight and we were gonna hang out" He said casually, feeling guilty for lieing to his girlfriend once again.

"Oh alright. Well have fun sweetie. I'm gonna be visiting my parents so I won't be back till around 11ish" She said with a nod as Lucas gave her one last farewell kiss.

"Alright see ya later then" He said, grabbing a jacket while making his way towards the door.

"Luke?" She called after him, making him turn around ever so slightly.

"I love you" She said as a smile came to her lips.

"Me you too" He said with a grin before exiting out the door, letting the guilt slowly wash over him like a strong wave.

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

_617-850-7823. _He dialed the number into his cell phone as he made his way into his office building to find Jake.

"Pick up pick up pick up pick up…" He murmured quietly to himself.

"Hello?"

"Hey Brooke, it's me, uh Lucas" He said with nervousness as he heard giggles from the other end.

"Oh hey Luke! Where are you?" She asked with curiosity as she motioned for her friend be to quiet. They were like teenage girls on the phone with a crush.

"Uh actually I'm at work…I needed to pick up some things"

"Oh…do you have a nice view in your office?" She asked, shushing her friend as a new wave of giggles came over them.

"Uhh yeah actually I have a pretty nice view" He said as he looked out the large window, noticing the beautifulness of the view for the very first time with admiration.

"Can you see me?" Her voice was still giggly with a hint of seducting flirtation, causing a smile to come to his face.

"It's not _that_ nice of a view…" He said as his eyes found Jake who waved him over.

Making his way over to Jake he smiled as a fresh batch of giggles made their way into his ear and then cleared his throat, not wanting to appear suspicious to Jake.

"Alright so I'll pick you up tonight at eight?" He asked, in a complete business like tone.

"Yeah eight…bye Luke"

"Bye"

He hung up his phone and pretended not to notice Jake's curious eyes.

"Who was that?" He asked as he leaned back in the cheap, wheeled computer chair that the office supplied him with.

"Oh just a friend…"

"You have other friends?" He asked with a smirk. Lucas chose to ignore this comment and stretched his arms out slightly.

"So uhm, listen…" He began, gaining Jake's full attention. "I'm gonna need you to cover for me tonight… You see I'm going out with this old friend from college that Peyton doesn't really like so I'm just gonna tell her I'm with you, ok?"

Jake's deep chocolate eyes got big with disbelief and accusation.

"You're sleeping with someone else aren't you?" He asked, completely shell shocked.

"What? No Jake of course not it's just…Peyton really hates this guy…"

"Ohhhh no no no no no. Lucas why would you do something like this? I mean Peyton's perfect! She's beautiful, she's practically one of the guys I mean, what more could you ask for?" Jake asked, concern evident in his eyes.

"Jesus Jake relax it's just a friend. I'm just telling Peyton I'm with you alright…" He said as he turned to walk away.

"NO NO NO! LUCAS! DON'T DO THIS TO ME MAN! COME ON DON'T PUT ME IN THE MIDDLE!" He shouted after him, practically pleading as he made a scene.

"THANKS MAN YOU'RE GREAT!" He said giving him the thumbs up, indicating that he was, infact, telling Peyton he was with him.

Jake groaned as he raked a hand through his messy mop of curly brown hair.

"Son of a bitch"

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

As eight a clock finally rolled around, an antsy Lucas drove his car over to where Brooke's apartment was, which he had remembered already by heart. It was absolutely pouring out and the rain was coming down in thick, strong droplets. He silently cursed God for making the weather so horrible on this one night as oppose to another. But his thoughts of God and all that mumbo jumbo were soon forgotten as he spotted Brooke waiting on the porch of the apartment building, standing under the roof for dryness.

Tonight, she looked gorgeous, as she usually did. She had on a slightly above knee length brown skirt that poofed out a little and gold flats. On the top she had on a loose, white, low-rise cami with buttons, her hair was down and in loose waves. She caught his eyes and grinned as she made her way over to his car, jogging slightly to avoid the rain.

She laughed as he came out of the car with an umbrella for her but she had already made it to the other side of the car.

"I don't need it!" She called out through the sound of the rain as he himself got drenched.

"Oh alright!" He called back as he tried desperately to close the umbrella back up, making them both laugh. Finally, he managed to close it and got back in the car.

"Oh my God my shirt is completely soaked it's absolutely sticking to my skin!" She exclaimed, making Lucas laugh while making sure his eyes were focused on looking out the window beside him.

"Don't worry I won't look…" He said with a short chuckle as things got quiet.

"I'd be insulted if you didn't" She said in a quiet, yet undeniably sexy tone that once again, caught Lucas off guard.

"Well…I don't want to offend you…" He said, trying his best to rid the nervousness from his voice as his eyes scanned her body. He felt his heart get stuck in his throat as he noticed the thinness of her cami and the bra that she had on underneath it.

"Alright well…that's nice" He said, clearing his throat.

She laughed as he began to drive off into the night, giving him directions on where to turn.

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

"Hello?" Peyton picked up the house phone that had been ringing as she continued to flip through the channels, sad that her parents had cancelled on her.

"Hey Peyt, listen Tim's dad finally gave in, his lungs just collapsed on him and we're all over at his house now to be there with him…"

"Oh my God Nathan I'll be there, don't worry. Have you gotten through to Lucas and Jake?" She asked hopefully.

"Uh yeah I got to Jake he's on his way but Lucas' phone must be off or something cause it's going straight to voicemail.

"But Lucas is with Jake.." She began, confused.

"Uh not when I called him. Listen I gotta go more people are coming and Tim's a wreck. I'll see you soon" And with that, he hung up the phone, leaving a very confused Peyton all by her lonesome.

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

As Lucas and Brooke made their way into the party, they were greeted by several groups of people- well, Brooke was at least.

"Oh my God hey guys!" She said cheerfully as she hugged all her girlfriends and nodded to her guy friends.

"Guys this is Luke" She said introducing them.

Lucas looked around at the people around him, people who were obviously much younger then he was. He nodded to them in acknowledgement and was taken aback by an extremely tall black boy who greeted him with a sort of half thug-hug type thing.

"Uhh…cool" He said with a nod as he felt Brooke's hand wrap around his own, bringing him to the center of the party.

The party was insane and the lights were amazing. Rap music was blasting from every area of the room possible and he was letting loose and just having a fun time. That's when Brooke had decided to take things up a notch as the all too familiar song; 'One, Two, Step' came on. She let her backside face him as her hips began to sway in a mesmerizing way.

At first he was extremely timid by her gesture but danced along nonetheless, cautious of what was happening. Noticing his tension, Brooke smiled to herself and took both his hands, placing them at her sides. He closed his eyes, loving the feeling of his hands on her bare, flat skin that creeped between her skirt and cami. He allowed her hips to grind against his and almost moaned out loud when she bent over and slowly came back up, grinding her perfect ass more into his package.

The party went on for what seemed like hours and Lucas was having the time of his life with Brooke. Everything was going perfect. He felt young again.

He felt alive.

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

Lucas laughed as he got out of the car and closed the door shut, leaning against the car with a grin on his face as Brooke skipped around to greet him. The party was amazing and everything went perfectly. They left as it started to defuse and were now outside of Lucas' car, outside of Brooke's apartment building, and the rain had thankfully stopped.

Brooke giggled as a car full of college kids drove by them, cheering and honking with pure joy. Lucas laughed as well as he let his body lean fully against the car with Brooke standing in front of him, a smile evident on her face as she showcased her famous dimples.

"You make me feel ten years younger" He said as his eyes stared intently off into the sky before bringing them back down to look at her.

"Hm ten years… Then _I'm_ seducing a younger man. _Excellent_" She said with goofiness as he smiled widely at her, amazed by the wonderful woman in front of him.

He stared at her for a moment, completely infatuated.

"You're tying to make me lose my mind, aren't you?" He said quietly as he got lost in her beautiful multi-colored eyes.

She gave him a closed lip smile as she stared right back into his eyes.

"I've already lost mine" She said in a voice just as quiet if not quieter then the one he had used himself.

They stared at each other for several moments longer; the only sound heard was the passing cars and the strong gusts of wind that blew by them. He swallowed hard, not knowing what was going to happen next and very much liking the _feeling_ of not knowing.

They both slowly moved their heads in towards each other and closed their eyes, making the darkness from before even darker. Their lips met and they kissed for only a moment. It was a soft, sensual sort of kiss that left them both wanting more. They pulled away several inches to look at each other before moving in once more for another kiss. Lucas felt as if he were floating on a cloud when he kissed her. It was like nothing he had ever felt before.

After their second innocent kiss they pulled away a little once more, comforted by the silence as they stared into each other's eyes. It was like Lucas was afraid almost, in his mind at least. He felt like he was crossing over to forbidden territories when he kissed her. It was a dangerous thing to do and it was more importantly wrong. But somehow, that made the whole thing feel more real. It made it feel more tempting. At first he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to do this but after feeling the softness of her lips on his own, it was as if he didn't have a choice. It was simply far too much to bear at this point.

After the two innocent kisses, he needed to taste her more, he needed to have more of her for longer. He brought his hands to the sides of her neck as both their heads tilted to the opposite side as they leaned in, causing their lips to meet once again. This time, however, the kiss they shared was far deeper and far more passionate. Their tongues roamed each other's mouths, loving the taste of one another.

The kiss intensified as their heads tilted more inward, wanting more access to one another's mouth, it was like they were digging for buried treasure. His hands soon found their way to the sides of her waist and pulled her closer to him, wanting to rid the gap between them. He was nervous, that much was obvious. Here she was, some young, hot college girl who obviously wanted him and here he was- middle aged guy with a pregnant girlfriend and a permanent crisis.

They pulled away again, each taking in several deep breathes. Brooke looked up at him with eyes full of lust.

"Come on…" She began, whispering. "Let's go back to my room my roommates gone…" She said as she brought her hands behind his neck and played lightly with the hair that was there.

Lucas felt the need to take a moment to think things through. He knew the consequences of whatever actions they intended to do up in her room would be severe and 100 wrong.

"Brooke I- I can't" He said in an almost pleading tone while his head drooped so he was looking at his feet, letting her know what she was doing to him.

"Why not?" She asked as she tilted her head lower so he brought his eyes back up to meet hers. "What did you think was gonna happen to night?" She asked with a small grin, tilting her head.

He let out a laugh as he quirked an eyebrow and looked deeply into her mischievous eyes.

"Well…I had _something_ in mind…" He admitted shyly, causing them both to laugh as she took his hands in hers.

"Come on Luke…let's go" She said, attempting to persuade him.

"I can't Brooke…" He said sadly. "It's wrong alright? Just…just go up to your dorm and…" He brought a hand to his head sadly, thinking of what to say.

"But I'd rather spend all night making love to you" She whispered in his ear, her hot breath on his skin causing several dirty images to pop into his mind.

"Brooke, I'm sorry…I got to go" He said, daring himself to look her in the eyes.

"Ok bye" She said in a somewhat cheery tone as she spun on heel and took up off the stairs to her apartment, not bothering to look back as she left Lucas to stand there, once again to process what had just happened.

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

"Hey Tim I'm so sorry about everything…How're you holding up?" Peyton said as she made her way over to him and embraced him into a comforting hug.

"Thanks Peyton. I'm alright I guess I'm just in shock…"

She nodded understandingly while looking around the room, in hopes of seeing Lucas.

"Have you seen Jake and Lucas yet…?" She asked while gently biting her lower lip.

"Lucas isn't here but Jake's in the kitchen" He said, nodding his head toward where the kitchen was.

Making her way over she spotted Jake right away who seemed to suddenly be extremely interested in an empty box of Special K.

"Where's Lucas?" She asked, well, sort of demanded.

He shrugged exasperatingly. "I don't know. I mean, why would I know?"

"He said he was with you Jake now where the hell is he!" Peyton asked, almost scared of the answer.

"Peyton please don't do this to me please don't put me in this position.." He said, practically begging her, his big brown eyes full of plead.

"Who is she!" She demanded, her eyes now brimmed with tears. "Who the hell is she and where the hell are they? How long?" He said hitting him hard on the chest causing him to drag her into an empty room and closing the door.

"Jesus Peyton calm the fuck down I have _no_ idea!"

"Is it another woman?"

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW PEYTON I REALLY DON'T!" He said honestly. "I have absolutely no fucking clue where he is or who he's with or what he's doing ok!"

Peyton suddenly felt as if her whole world had slowly began to fall apart and the only thing to do now was to go home.

"Get out of my way" She said, her voice cold and hard. "Get the FUCK out of my way!"

And with that, Jake moved almost immediately, allowing a very angry Peyton to pass by him and out into the night.

"Well I'm screwed.."


	3. We All Face Doubt

**Ch3:** We All Face Doubt

**A/N:** Guys your reviews are amazing! Everyone has been so sweet and it's making me want to write more and more! Please keep reviewing if you're reading and let me know what you think.- Katharine

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

Driving through the streets of Boston on a Friday night was never exactly a safe thing to do- but Lucas did it nonetheless with not a care in the world. He was in utter bliss and shock by what had happened with Brooke and kept replaying every part of their night over and over again in his head. He found himself wondering what it would've been like if he had gone inside with her. He thought about how making love to that girl would be the closest thing to ecstasy.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pant pocket and, struggling, went to get it out. Once he did he looked at the screen that was glowing in the darkness. '12 Missed Calls'. _Shit._ He had just recently turned his phone back on and wasn't expecting there to be any calls but clearly, he was wrong.

_Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz._

Glancing down at the Caller ID, the word 'Home' glowed brightly on the screen and he flipped it open, accepting the call.

"Hey baby I'm on my way ho-" He began, making a turn as the light turned green.

"Where the FUCK are you Lucas? COME HOME RIGHT NOW I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!"

"Peyton calm down I'm on my way home Jesus Christ what's wrong with you?" He asked, well, kind of yelled into the receiver, shocked by her sudden outburst.

"Where the hell have you been all night Luke!"

Lucas, who still slightly shell shocked by everything, wasn't exactly paying attention to the road or where he was going. The next time he looked up all he saw were two bright headlights, causing him to turn almost immediately and swerve into a little tree nearby.

Lucas' deep blue eyes watched as the tiny decorative tree began to slowly fall down on his car.

"No, no, no, no, no!" He groaned as the tree finally came to contact with his car and made what looked like a tiny dent.

Remembering that Peyton was still on the phone, screaming at him, he put the phone back to his ear and yelled into the receiver.

"Peyton! I got into a car accident I'll be home soon!" He said, hanging up before she could finish the 'Fuck you!' she had started.

Lucas sat there leaning back in his seat full of disbelief. He smacked the steering wheel out of anger. He was so unsure of everything and everyone and he had no idea where things even began to go wrong. Or…right?

"What're you doing?" He asked himself in a quiet tone before punching the steering wheel out of stress. "WHAT'RE YOU DOING?" He asked again, this time yelling at himself for letting his oh-so-perfect life get out of hand.

After several deep breathes, he pulled out of the little tree incident area and took off to go home. Everything would be fine. He had been out with Jake all night. Jake would back him up.

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

He parked the car roughly in front of the house and got out, running up to the porch and through the front door where he found Peyton coming out of the kitchen, eyes watery and full of fear.

"Where were you?" She asked in a quiet, calmer tone then the one she used during their previous phone conversation.

"I told you I was with Jake all night…we had plans" He said with a nod in his innocent, brooding voice.

Peyton just looked at him, her face squinched up with hurt and disgust as she shook her head.

"You're a dirty liar!" She shouted to him, not bothering to hide the pain in her voice.

Lucas looked at her as if she were on fire as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

"I'm not a liar, Peyton!" He said as he looked at the screen showing that Jake was calling. "Look see it's Jake right now you can even ask him!" He said while flipping it open.

"Hey"

"Peyton knows everything I didn't tell her" Jake said in one, deep, scared breath leaving a wide eyed Lucas to simply just shut the phone and put it back into his pocket with out another sound.

"Oh so what you don't want me to ask him anymore?" Peyton exclaimed, knowing full well what he had just found out.

"Peyton listen…"

"WHO THE FUCK IS SHE LUCAS!"

Lucas let out a long, sad sigh as realization came over him. She knew and she was going to find out the details one way or another. But maybe there was still hope. Maybe he could play this cool and not let anything slip. Or…maybe not.

"She's just a friend…" He said quietly as he looked into Peyton's big honey eyes, pleadingly.

"Oh my God…" Peyton began, absolutely disgusted. She was hoping she had been wrong this entire time but now as the truth began to unfold she felt worse then she had ever felt before. "Did you sleep with her!" She nearly shouted as more anger rose.

"No! Jesus Christ Peyton I wouldn't do that to you!"

"Then what the hell happened!"

"We just kissed Peyton I swear it didn't mean anything-" He began after a moment of silence as Peyton brought her hands to her head in sadness and anger.

"How many times?" She asked, fearing his response.

He bit his lower lip as he came over closer to her and looked down, debating whether or not he should tell the truth.

"Several…" He said in a still, quiet voice as he felt her tiny fists begin to pound into his chest.

"Why'd you do it?"

"I- I was scared...I mean I just felt trapt in this relationship, Peyton..." He said truthfully.

"FUCK YOU! YOU'RE A FUCKING ASS HOLE GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE!" She yelled as she ran into the kitchen, angrier then she had ever been before.

"Peyton relax it didn't mean anything!" He began as his phone began to buzz once more but before he could answer it, Peyton snatched it away from him to look at it, her face full of disgust as she looked at the Caller ID.

"_Brooke!_ She said, throwing the phone as hard as she could and hitting him in the stomach. "You already have that little whore programmed on your cell phone!" She said, shaking her head, ridding her tears. "Get out. GET THE FUCK OUT!"

"Peyton what the fuck is your fucking problem nothing the fuck happened!"

"GET OUT RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" She said, grabbing the knife from the counter and edging closer to him.

"What Peyton huh? WHAT YOU'RE GONNA FUCKING STAB ME!" He said, angry now himself. "You're fucking psychotic!"

"GET. THE. FUCK. OUT. ASS HOLE!"

"FUCK YOU PEYTON!"

"LEAVE!"

And with that, he left, slamming the door as hard as he could behind him, angrier than he had been in a long time.

"Fucking bitch…" He muttered once he was in the car alone before taking several deep breaths, shocked by the argument he and Peyton had just had. He felt his cell phone buzz again, indicating someone was calling.

Without bothering to look at the ID, he answered it, still sitting in the darkness of his car.

"Hello?" He said in a deep, out of breath tone.

"Hey, don't hang up!" Came the quick, nervous voice of the girl he had just had the most amazing night with. "Look I'm so sorry about before, I think- God I must've had too much to drink or something but…" She stopped for a moment before continuing. "If I promise not to try and kiss you or anything, would you come over here and talk to me?"

Lucas could sense the plead in her voice as she spoke and he thought about how there was nothing else he'd rather do right now then be with Brooke.

"I _really_, need to talk to you…" She added, making him want to see her even more.

"I'll be right there"

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

Making his way up the stairs of her apartment building, her finally found her room and knocked on the wooden door three full times, anxious about what was going to happen. When she came to the door, she had on a plain gray tank top and silk, navy shorts. Her hair fell freely around her shoulder and her make up from earlier was slightly smudged in a sexy way.

"Hi…" She said in a soft, quiet voice.

"Hey" He responded, nervous.

"I promise I won't touch you…" She said in a voice that sounded as if she truely meant it.

They stared at each other in silence for a while before the intensity of everything caved in and his arms were around her waist and hers' around his neck, playing with his hair.

The kiss deepened almost immediately as she pulled him into her room, shutting the door hard behind him, their lips never leaving each other's. His hands roamed up and down her waist, the feelings of nervousness long since forgotten. They kissed hard and rough, so hard that he had her slammed hard against the wall, kissing every part of her body that was un-clothed. He let his hand go to her inner thigh and rubbed it hard, making her squirm with desire. He kissed her with all he had in him, as did she.

Brooke began to slide his jacket off his shoulders and through it at a random space at her place, not caring where it landed. She broke the kiss to pull off his shirt and he almost immediately went for her tank top, throwing it to the floor. He felt himself harden even more when he saw she didn't have a bra on. Her breasts against his bare chest was just the thing he needed at the moment.

"Mmmm"

He smiled at the sound she made as she slipped out of her shorts. He noticed she had on a simple black thong; the little barrier of fabric was driving him crazy. He slipped his finger so that it was between the thong and her center and pulled the thong off, letting them stay on the ground where they were.

He lifted her up by her tiny frame and pushed everything of the desk that she had, ignoring the lamp that had fallen and broke. It didn't matter anyway. He plopped her down on the desk and nipped at her perfectly perky breasts as she undid his pants and boxers, allowing him to step out of them.

He wrapped one strong arm around her middle and tossed her on the nearest bed where she looked at him eagerly. Their eyes never left one another's as he began to climb on top of her.

"This is what I want. We don't have to worry about tomorrow…" She said quietly causing him to nod before sliding himself into her, slowly at first.

He saw her eyes flutter close at the sudden hardness going into her and it made his body tingle. This girl was driving him absolutely crazy. And crazy had never felt so damn good before in his life. He began to thrust in and out of her harder as they both shared the complete and utter ecstasy of being with one another.

Brooke basically had to bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming out with a mixture of pleasure and pain.

"Oh my God Lucas don't stop… Make love to me all night…"

He thrusted harder and harder, going deeper each time, loving the way she gripped the sheets at her side for dear life. The way her hair was starting to stick to her face. The whole situation made him want her more. The fact that he had a girlfriend and that it was wrong, forbidden, un-allowed. He shuddered with pleasure at the thought as he pounded into her more and more, groaning with pure lust.

"Jesus fucking Christ Brooke…" He said, his eyes clamped shut as he released into her.

They both climaxed together in one big overwhelming sensation of pleasure as they lay there, panting and out of breathe. After several minutes of silence, not counting the heavy breathing, Brooke turned on her side and straddled his lap, pushing him back against the bed.

"This time, I'm on top"

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_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Jake stood at the door, planning out in his head what he was going to say to the woman he loved for 13 years, to the woman whom he had a child with. How he was going to end this he didn't know. But he needed to get out.

"Where the hell were you, Jake?" Rachel asked, angry as she opened the door for him then went back over to the kitchen. He walked in and shut the door behind him, following her closely behind, smiling at Jenny who was sitting in her baby chair, eating what looked like smashed up peas.

"I was hanging out with Tim and Nathan… Listen I-"

"Oh great! Well when you were off 'hanging out' with your friends, I was stuck here in baby hell with Jenny!"

"I'm sorry Rachel I really am…" He began, picking up Jenny who started to cry. This made Rachel snatch her away from him and began to 'coo' her before setting her back down in her chair.

"Seriously Jake what is _wrong_ with you? Can you not do _anything_ right? God you're so stupid!" She shouted at him, obviously annoyed.

"Listen Rachel we need to talk…" His voice was quiet now and her face immediately softened. "I can't do this anymore…" He said sadly.

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused.

"Us. I can't do 'us' Rachel. I mean, I thought having this baby would bring us closer together. I thought it'd be the perfect way to become a family again. But all it's done is bring us further apart…"

"Jake…what the hell are you talking about?" She said, tears from her fear of being left in her eyes.

"I can't do this. I'm tired of being told I'm stupid or- or not good enough…" He admitted sadly, his big brown eyes brimming with tears.

"Get out. Stop by tomorrow to get your stuff but just get the fuck out. Leave. You're NEVER going to see me, OR your daughter ever again!" She shouted, tears of anger flooding from her eyes.

"Rachel please…" He began, still calm but sad in a tired way. "I don't want our daughter to grow up hating us- and she will if this is how we always are!" He exclaimed. "If we stay together unhappy all her life she'll resent us so much and I don't want that, Rach" He pleaded, sadness overcoming his voice.

Rachel, by this time, had already made her way to the front door and held it open for him, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"LEAVE!" She shouted through her tears. "JUST LEAVE! Get the fuck out! Go! And don't come back cause you're never going to see us again! Leave!" She shouted at him, leaving a very sad Jake standing there, unsure of what to say or do. "Just go" She said, more quietly now. "Please"

The desperation in her voice almost made Jake's knees give in. He looked into the kitchen at Jenny who was still sitting there crying and then looked back to Rachel who was still holding the door for him. He began to walk towards the door and stopped to look Rachel in the eyes before continuing to walk past the front door and into the bedroom instead.

Rachel closed the front door and leaned against it, sliding all the way down with her head in her hands, crying.

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

Lucas awoke slowly; embracing the sun that came pouring in threw the windows. He looked down at the vision of beauty at his side and furrowed his brows at her sleeping figure as memories of the previous night came back to his head.

"Shit…"

He muttered quietly as he stealthily made his way out of bed and got his clothes on as quickly and quietly as humanly possible. Before leaving, her turned to look at her and how peaceful she looked with the beautiful rays of sun shining down on her as if she were an angel.

Once he was halfway down the stairwell, he reached into his pocket to grab his keys but then had a mini panic attack, seeing as they weren't there. _Great._ He thought as he turned on heel to go back up to her room to look from them, nearly colliding with a guy on the way up.

Once he got to the hallway, he saw her standing outside her door with her arms crossed sadly. She was dressed now, wearing the same gray tank top but this time, with light red PJ pants, showing off a sliver a skin between the two. As he made his way over to her, her hands slowly came to her hips and a knowing look came to her face.

"Why'd you leave without saying good bye?" She asked, hurt by what he had done.

"I have to go to this work thing, you know, I just I… I didn't wanna wake you up…" He explained, although it was a lie. Truthfully, he didn't know why he got up and left so quickly. He just felt guilty. He felt as if he stayed there any longer then necessary the guilt would just get worse.

"Have you seen my keys?" He asked as he made his way past her and into her room, looking around for his missing keys.

She followed him in with her arms crossed across her chest, feeling slightly used and sad.

"You can't wait to get back to her, can you?" She asked as he began to look under the bed and any other logical place.

"Can you just _please_ help me find my keys?" He asked hopefully, not wanting to talk about Peyton at the moment.

"What did I do?" Her voice was higher then the last time she used it and full with vulnerability. She was clearly on the verge of tears and it tore Lucas up inside.

He stopped mid-search and turned slowly to look at her with a sorry expression on his face as he shook his head.

"You didn't do anything, Brooke. You're amazing…" He said truthfully as he stared into her eyes.

"You were amazing. Last night was _perfect_…" She said, confusing clouding her features.

He stared at her for a while, not sure what to say to the beautifully broken girl in front of him. The girl who 24 hours ago was bubbling with fun and delight. He watched as she reached into the pocket of her PJ pants and pulled out the missing keys.

"Here…" She said quietly as she took a step towards him and held them out for him to take.

"Thank you" He said sincerely as he made his way over to her to take them, but not before she pulled them back looking more fragile then ever as she looked into his eyes, her own full of sadness.

"Are you gonna call me?" She asked, not wanting to look him in the eyes any longer.

"I'll call you" He said sincerely as he nodded. She handed him the keys, defeated, and watched mournfully as he walked out of her door and back into the empty hallway.

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_BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG._

Lucas had tried his key at the apartment that he and Peyton shared but she had put a chain lock on it, making it impossible for him to get in- which was very aggravating.

"Unlock the door Peyton!" He called into the house, glancing through the little space he had.

"I'm packing, come back later, the house will be empty!" She called back as she poked her head out of the kitchen.

"No you have to come talk to me, things are not gonna end like this…" He called calmly as he stuck his foot in the door, trying to open it more.

"Like _I_ did this...MOVE YOUR FOOT" She warned him as he continued speaking.

"I- I panicked I made a huge mistake- AAHHH!" He yelped out in pain as she kicked his foot out of the way and then kicked the door shut. But even as the words left his mouth, he wasn't sure whether or not he meant them.

"PEYTON OPEN THE DOOR!" He shouted, louder this time as he banged hard against it.

That's when his next-door neighbor came out, the one he shared the apartment building with. He had forgotten his name but he was a large, flamboyantly gay black man and was extremely kind.

"Lucas? Is anything wrong?" He asked with worry, although his voice reminded Lucas somewhat of a valley girl.

"Everything's fine I just locked myself out.." He began to explain before banging on the door, much harder this time. "PEYTON OPEN THE DOOR!"

That's when Peyton's head poked through the space that the chain held together, her eyes were red and puffy indicating that she had been crying.

"I can do whatever the hell I want, we're not married remember? We're both free _just_ like you wanted" She said with malicious sarcasm dripping from every word.

"I made a mistake" He said quietly, pleading her forgiveness- although every time the word 'mistake' was sputtered out of his mouth, Brooke's angelic face popped into his mind.

"You're right, too late man. Move your damn FOOT!" She said angrily, and with that, slammed the door once more in his face, leaving a distraught Lucas alone on the porch.

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"I'm so sorry man…I mean we all face doubt in our lives…"

"Same…I mean with you and Rachel and everything…"

Lucas gave Jake a sad smile and Jake returned it. Tim sat on the couch silent; he hadn't spoken much since his father died.

"Yeah, I honestly have no idea what to do…I know I'm not going to end up with her because…well…she makes me feel so useless…so worthless you know?" Explained a very pained Jake.

Lucas just nodded sadly, feeling awful for everything that he was going through. It seemed like just about everyone had been going through some sort of a crisis of his or her own.

"So…what's her name?" Jake piped up after several minutes of silence.

"Brooke"

"Brooke what?"

Lucas sat there in his chair, thinking. He didn't know her last name. She was all he had been thinking about the past couple of days and he didn't even know her last name.

He shrugged a little and turned to look at Jake with a frown. "I dunno…"

Jake nodded slowly, not wanting to scold him for not knowing. It just wasn't at all necessary. Just then, Nathan Lee made his appearance with a stunningly beautiful girl at his side that was dressed in jeans and a plain teal tee shirt. Her thick, flowing blonde hair fell around her shoulders like an angel.

"Alright so we still on for dinner tonight?" She asked Nathan, who in return nodded.

"Of course sweetie. I'll pick you up at 7…oh guys hey…this is Haley, Haley this is Tim, Jake, and Lucas"

The girl, known as Haley, nodded to all of them politely.

"Nice to meet you all"

They all nodded as well and muttered some sort of hello, watching intently as Nathan leaned down and gave her a small smooch on the lips before sending her off.

"So how's she in bed?" Tim asked in a monotone voice, not really interested, just kind of looking for an excuse to speak.

Nathan shrugged at this and raked a hand through his short brown hair.

"I wouldn't know" He said nonchalantly as the Patriots game came back on.

All four guys sat in silence watching the game, all engaged in their own thoughts. Tim didn't even talk, not even when the Patriots were up 21 to nothing. They all just sat there in a comfortable silence.

_It's funny how things can change so quickly. How one day you can be so sure of something, like loving someone, and then the next day be completely out of love with that same person. Like you finally come to terms with reality and just let go of what was and start to accept things for how they are now._ Lucas thought, glancing at Jake.

_Or how one person in your life can have such an impact on you, even if it's just for a moment. How one person can make you change your entire perspective on life and the opposite sex, and just everything in general. _He gave Nathan a sideways glance as he thought of that Haley girl.

_Or how the loss of someone close can leave you so undeniably broken that you start forgetting who you are and began to lose yourself all together. _He looked at Tim who just stared at the TV screen with a blank look in his eyes.

_Or how you can think you're set for life and you're just about ready to settle down with who you think is the 'perfect' person for you-, until you meet someone that turns your world so completely upside down and takes you on a roller coaster full of unexpected surprises._ He thought of Brooke and smiled, picturing her perfect dimples that always popped up when she giggled.

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Lucas sat at a familiar setting, staring out at the lake in front of him, admiring the way the sun set on it, making a beautiful clash of colors.

He turned to look at the ladder that he used to get up to the tree house and smiled sadly as he pictured a familiar, petite brunette girl in a sinful red dress pop out from the opening. He sighed out loud as his eyes went back to the lake.

It was a peaceful day, despite the events that had happened earlier. He closed his eyes as his feet dangled over the edge, letting the wind blow them around as he sat there. He thought about how how much had changed since the last time he had been there. How on the day of the wedding he was so afraid. So scared of what was going to happen in his life. His girlfriend was pregnant with his child and he felt as if he had been forced to grow up.

He loved Peyton more then anything and he knew that for sure. He was afraid of everything that was going on with them. It was just happening so fast that he panicked and fell apart- and Brooke was there to pick up the pieces.

But then there were his feelings for Brooke. She was unlike any girl he had ever met before. She was absolutely amazing and he could really see himself loving her, he already felt like he had loved her all his life.

He squinted out at the sun as his mind flooded with thoughts of the two women in his life at the moment. Peyton was safe. She was practical and it made sense to be with her- they had been together for 3 years now and he hadn't slipped up once until he met Brooke. Peyton was perfect. She was great, she really was.

But Brooke… Brooke made him feel things he didn't even know existed. She kept him guessing, kept him on his toes. Seeing Brooke is something he was constantly looking forward to. She was beautiful, funny, smart, and just amazing. The age difference was an obstacle of course, but the smallest one he had to overcome.

He sat there, his mind fixated on a beautiful blonde and a bombshell brunette. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he took it out, seeing 'Brooke' on the caller ID he let out a sigh.

He set his phone at his side, letting it ring, and stared out at the lake again, watching the sun slowly begin to disappear behind the lake.

_Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz._

_Hi you've reached Lucas- I'm not here right now so leave a message and I'll get back to you._

_**BEEP.**_


End file.
